Various wireless communication networks such as those utilizing IEEE 802.16 standards allow a wireless device to initiate scanning procedures for identifying cells. The wireless device identifies potential cells for initiating handover procedures therewith. One problem is that in current networks that allow wireless device initiated scanning, a device is required to wait until the Carrier-to-Interference-plus-Noise-Ratio (“CINR”), Received Signal Strength Indicator (“RSSI”), and Round Trip Delay (“RTD”) are below corresponding SCAN threshold(s) to initiate a scan request to a base station. This is problematic because a wireless device that is fully mobile may no longer be in range with a base station for a handover to successfully occur. For example, an additional 20-50 frames may be required when performing bandwidth request ranging for sending a scan request to a base station. In many instances this time frame is too large for a fully mobile wireless device to sustain a call.
Therefore a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.